Risk-Aware Human-In-The-Loop Multi-Robot Path Planning for Lost Person Search and Rescue

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Date
2019-07-12
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Publisher
Virginia Tech
Abstract

We introduce a framework that would enable using autonomous aerial vehicles in search and rescue scenarios associated with missing person incidents to assist human searchers. We formulate a lost person behavior model and a human searcher model informed by data collected from past search missions. These models are used to generate a probabilistic heatmap of the lost person's position and anticipated searcher trajectories. We use Gaussian processes with a Gibbs' kernel for data fusion to accurately model a limited field-of-view sensor. Our algorithm thereby computes a set of trajectories for a team of aerial vehicles to autonomously navigate, so as to assist and complement human searchers' efforts.

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Keywords
Search and Rescue, Informative path planning, Multi-agent path planning, Gaussian process, Limited field-of-view, Gibbs' kernel
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